Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo registered 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame a 19-point third-quarter deficit to post a 118-110 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday at the Bradley Centre.

Eric Bledsoe contributed 22 points and seven assists as Milwaukee halted a four-game slide. Jabari Parker scored 13 points, Tyler Zeller and John Henson had 11 apiece and Khris Middleton scored 10.

Dario Saric scored 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting for Philadelphia, which committed a season-worst 26 turnovers, while losing for just the third time in 12 games. Joel Embiid had 19 points and eight rebounds, JJ Redick added 17 points and Ben Simmons recorded 12 points and 15 assists for the 76ers, who shot 55.7 per cent from the field.

Embiid (seven), Simmons (six) and Redick (five) combined for 18 turnovers. The 76ers led by 20 points in the first quarter, and the outcome marked the team’s fourth setback of the season after holding a lead of 20 or more points.

Milwaukee, who shot 49.5 per cent from the field, moved within a half-game of sixth-place Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference race.

Kings 102, Knicks 99

Skal Labissiere hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining as Sacramento squandered a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter and escaped with a narrow win over visiting New York.

The Kings needed Labissiere’s 14th career 3-pointer in 38 career attempts because they gave up a 24-5 run after appearing to be in command in the opening minutes of the fourth.

Labissiere, who finished with 14 points, put Sacramento ahead for the final time after Kyle O’Quinn hit two free throws to even the game with 16.6 seconds remaining.

Clippers 123, Nets 120

Austin Rivers scored 27 points and drilled a 3-pointer with 33.8 seconds left to give host Los Angeles the lead for good in a win over Brooklyn.

Tobias Harris added 26, while Lou Williams scored 21 points, including a jumper with 8.9 seconds remaining to give Los Angeles a three-point advantage.

DeAndre Jordan contributed a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Milos Teodosic chipped in 14 points and Montrezl Harrell netted 11.

Caris LeVert came off the bench to score 27 points for Brooklyn, while DeMarre Carroll hit for 20, going 6-for-11 on 3-pointers. Three other reserves had big scoring games for the Nets, with Joe Harris adding 19 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 15 and Dante Cunningham 14.

Raptors 103, Hornets 98

DeMar DeRozan canned a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play in the final three minutes, enabling host Toronto to hold off Charlotte.

Charlotte had cut a 13-point deficit to 88-86 with 5:11 left on a three-point play by Jeremy Lamb, but the Raptors’ cornerstone backcourt of DeRozan and Kyle Lowry kept the visitors at bay.

Kemba Walker poured in a game-high 27 points for Charlotte, which fell five-and-a-half games behind Miami for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot with 18 games left.

Pelicans 126, Mavericks 109

Jrue Holiday scored 30 points and Nikola Mirotic added 24 as New Orleans beat host Dallas to capture their eighth straight win.

Holiday and Mirotic combined for 13 points during a 15-2 run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Pelicans a comfortable lead after Dallas had pulled to within 91-87 at the beginning of the period.

New Orleans’ winning streak is their longest since 2011 and has been accomplished despite the loss of star centre DeMarcus Cousins to a season-ending Achilles injury right before the All-Star break.

Pacers 98, Wizards 95

Victor Oladipo finished with a game-high 33 points as Indiana snapped a four-game losing streak against host Washington.

Oladipo, who grew up in nearby Silver Spring, Md., scored 19 in the first half as Indiana never trailed and took a 10-point halftime lead.

Overall, four Indiana players finished in double figures. Bojan Bogdanovic (20 points) was the only other Pacer to reach the 20-point level.

Hawks 113, Suns 112

Taurean Prince scored 22 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds to play, to help Atlanta nip visiting Phoenix.

TJ Warren scored a game-high 35 points and gave the Suns a 112-110 lead with a layup with 20.8 seconds to play. Prince got to the left wing on the Hawks’ ensuing possession and hit a tough, lean-in 3-pointer for the win. It was Prince’s sixth 3-pointer of the day, a career-high.

Devin Booker scored 20 points for the Suns, but missed a contested baseline jumper as time expired.

BELO HORIZONTE — Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar was to leave hospital on Sunday after a successful operation on his broken foot, but it will be six weeks before doctors know when the world’s most expensive player can train again.

Neymar was due to be discharged early in the morning from the Mater Dei hospital in Belo Horizonte, 24 hours after surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.

The operation was declared a complete success.

Now the question is whether the 26-year-old can catch any of PSG’s remaining season, and even what kind of shape he will be in at the start of Brazil’s World Cup campaign in Russia this June.

“The recovery time will depend on the player’s evolution. In six weeks we will make a new evaluation,” Lasmar said after performing the operation.

Gerard Saillant, the French doctor representing PSG at the hospital, told journalists that the timing of Neymar’s return to full training could only be given at the six-week mark.

“It is absolutely impossible to give you the slightest detail before those six weeks,” he said.

On Thursday, Lasmar said the star player  whose transfer from Barcelona cost PSG a record 222 million euros last August  would need at least two and a half months, maybe three, to return.

This would put him uncomfortably close to the start of the World Cup on June 14, including missing two friendly warm-up games.

Tensions denied

After his one hour and 15 minute operation, Neymar spent his Saturday afternoon in a hospital bed watching live TV coverage of PSG’s Ligue 1 game against Troyes, Saillant said.

PSG won 2-0, but Neymar’s absence will be keenly felt during Tuesday’s Champions League showdown against Real Madrid.

The striker has scored 28 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions for the club  a prolific tally that came to a halt February 25 when he broke his foot during a 3-0 drubbing of Marseille.

Amid reports of tensions between PSG and Brazil’s footballing authorities over Neymar’s medical treatment, PSG insisted that it would be in charge of his recuperation.

“The post-operation rehabilitation will begin immediately under the control of the club’s physiotherapist,” PSG said in a statement on their website.

Earlier, Paris newspaper L’Equipe reported that PSG believe Lasmar lied about Neymar’s condition.

The report said that Neymar was initially found to have suffered a minor fracture at the Marseille game and that PSG were shocked when Lasmar declared it was a serious break requiring longer than expected recuperation time.

However, doctors stressed on Saturday that there was no friction between PSG and Brazil’s federation, the CBF.

“Contrary to what might have been written or said..., decisions already taken and those to come have had the complete agreement of Neymar of course, and of his family, all the staff at PSG, the medical staff, the organisation and management of PSG, and the representatives of the CBF,” Saillant said.

“There is absolutely no split, despite what was written.”

MANCHESTER — Manchester United’s Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is expected to leave the club at the end of the season, manager Jose Mourinho told a news conference on Friday.

The 36-year-old Ibrahimovic, who joined United in 2016 and is out of contract after this campaign, has been linked by the British media with a move to Major League Football team LA Galaxy.

Mourinho said Ibrahimovic could leave Old Trafford in May, but did not know whether the Swede would call time on his career or look for a new challenge in a different league.

“For Zlatan, we all think it’s his last season at Manchester United and it will be a very personal decision for him to play or to stop,” Mourinho said.

“I think he has won the right of choosing his life, his future, such an amazing player and amazing career that only that awful injury in the wrong moment broke a fantastic couple of seasons he could and should have [had] with us.”

Ibrahimovic, who said on Thursday he had not closed the door on playing at this year’s World Cup, has not featured for United since a 45-minute cameo versus Burnley in the Premier League last December following a serious knee injury.

He was United’s top scorer last season with 28 goals in 46 appearances, helping them win the League Cup and Europa League.

“This season has been really difficult for him,” Mourinho said. “He’s not injured. Does he feel totally happy, ready and convinced that he’s in condition to help the team in this moment? No, but he’s such an honest guy and such a champion he only wants to be back with that feeling of ‘I’m totally ready for it’.

“So he’s working hard and hopefully his evolution brings him to that level he wants to have a positive answer.”

Marouane Fellaini is also expected to become a free agent at the end of the campaign, but Mourinho is hopeful the midfielder could sign a longer deal, wary that this could be the player’s last major contract.

The 30-year-old Belgium international’s previous outing was against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium in January, when he was forced off with a knee problem.

“Fellaini is a different story. He’s still a young player, he had his injury and had a minor surgery, and he will be back to play again in a couple of weeks,” Mourinho added.

“Is he going to stay or leave? I don’t know, but I want him to stay and the club want him to stay.”

United, who are second in the Premier League, but 16 points, adrift of Manchester City, visit Crystal Palace on Monday.

BERLIN — Julian Nagelsmann’s two years at Hoffenheim have been one of the most remarkable success stories in the Bundesliga.

The Bundesliga’s youngest-ever coach when he was appointed at the age of 28, Nagelsmann has impressed with his innovative training methods, tactical nous and ability to revive the careers of players who had previously lost their way.

A former defender whose own career was cut short by a knee injury at the age of 20, Nagelsmann immediately led the former village team to safety after they had been flirting with relegation.

Last season, he led them to fourth place in the Bundesliga, their best-ever performance, notching their first-ever win over Bayern Munich along the way.

Although they were beaten by Liverpool for a place in the Champions League group stage in August, Hoffenheim looked set to continue where they left off when they quickly rose to second in the Bundesliga early this season.

But it has not quite worked out like that.

Nagelsmann saw last year’s team picked apart as defender Niklas Suele and midfielder Sebastian Rudy joined Bayern Munich and were followed by Sandro Wagner in January while right-back Jeremy Toljan joined Borussia Dortmund.

That was followed by an unsuccessful foray into the Europa League where they failed to progress from a group featuring Ludogorets Razgrad, Braga and Istanbul Basaksehir.

Meanwhile, both the coach and club were distracted by talk that Nagelsmann was being lined up by Bayern Munich as a future long-term coach.

“Every couple of days, I’m getting about 14 press enquiries, enough is enough,” he said at one point.

Bayern’s interest cooled after Carlo Ancelotti was fired and Jupp Heynckes, recalled for a fourth stint, led them on a run which has taken them 19 points clear at the top.

When the two sides met in January, Heynckes was generous in his praise of Nagelsmann, describing his counterpart as an inspiration to other coaches.

Bayern were not so kind on the field, however, as they came from two goals behind to win 5-2.

Since then, things have got worse for Hoffenheim who have dropped to ninth in the table, have won only one game this year and are facing the closest thing to a crisis they have known since Nagelsmann’s appointment.

They were jeered off the field after being held 1-1 at home by Freiburg last Saturday, prompting the club leadership to organise a two-hour meeting with the supporters at their training ground on Tuesday.

The club’s sporting director Alexander Rosen said the two sides had thrashed out their differences and that he was hoping for a late surge to the season, starting with Saturday’s visit to Augsburg.

“The exchange was enormously important to us,” he said.

“I was very enthusiastic to see how much passion and conviction the fans our ready to bring to the team and give their contribution to our success.” 

“With this tailwind behind us, we can go confidently together for the final ten games.”

BARCELONA  — Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was fastest in Formula One’s (F1) pre-season testing at a chilly Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday while Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton took one for the team and “sacrificed” his scheduled stint.

Vettel, like Hamilton a four times champion, lapped with a best time of one minute 19.673 seconds on soft tyres and also completed the most laps (98) despite flurries of snow later in the day.

The German’s fastest time was quicker than that posted by any team at the first Barcelona test of 2017 but he said Ferrari were focusing on reliability more than performance at this stage.

“From an operational point of view, everything went smoothly and I’d say the car is working. But today’s conditions are not the ones in which you’d normally run an F1 car,” said Vettel.

Hamilton had been supposed to test in the afternoon but Mercedes changed the schedule to keep Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas in the car all day rather than wasting time with a handover.

The usual lunchtime break was cancelled.

“With the weather conditions being up and down, and the loss of track time we had yesterday, it made sense to keep Valtteri in the car this afternoon,” said the Briton in a team review of the day’s action.

“Having run in the morning, he was comfortable in the car already and we would have lost about an hour of running time with the driver switch,” added the champion.

“With no real understanding of whether good weather was coming or not, I took the decision to sacrifice that time in order for the team to gain better understanding of the car by going through the run plan.”

Hot gases

Bottas was second overall, 0.303 slower than Vettel, with his best time also set on softs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever driven in such cold conditions before in Formula One,” said the Finn. “The tyres are just not made for these conditions.”

McLaren had a better morning than on Monday, when Fernando Alonso’s car lost a wheel and crashed into the gravel, with Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne third fastest but with only 37 laps to his name.

The team said a broken exhaust clip had led to hot gases being blown back onto a wiring loom which included the brake wire. McLaren stripped the car down but the weather had deteriorated by the time it was ready again.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also had technical problems, after Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo had set the fastest time on Monday, with the car kept in the garage for most of the morning as mechanics worked on it. 

The 20-year-old Dutch driver ended up fourth fastest. 

Teams have been considering adding an extra day to testing to compensate for the missed track time. 

Williams have a private filming session scheduled for the circuit on Friday so any extra day would probably have to be added next week.